The way the Bush administration operates

"By their deeds shall you know them."

World opinion

But, through his belligerent, arrogant, uncompromising, extremist attitude, Bush has lost all trust and respect. The message that this administration has sent to the world is (to quote Carl Bernstein), "the imperialist states can do what they want; the semi-colonial states must do what they are told." The support after 9/11 has given way to the vision of the United States as an imperial power of the worst kind. We are now simply an arrogant bully.

Condoleezza Rice sends the message when she defends the administration's refusal to join with all other countries in supporting an international war crimes court. She said, “The United States is special because it is a bigger target with forces all over the world. So maybe there is some difference in interests there." So, we are special. You little guys go work together; we'll save the world on our own.

Jimmy Carter, at the Democratic Convention in summer 2004, said, "Unilateral acts and demands have isolated the United States from the very nations we need to join us in combating terrorism." In just 34 months, he said, "all the goodwill [after 9/11] was squandered by a virtually unbroken series of mistakes and calculations."

Being strong does not mean you have to lose respect. John Kennedy was strong, but he had everyone's respect.

To see the opinion the world has, type in "opinion bush world" into the search engine google and read the articles that are found. The bottom of this page contains links to a few such articles.

The administration shows no sign of changing its operations and attitudes toward the rest of the world. Re-election would be a disaster.

Some facts

1. The table on the left is from a newly released poll (9 September 2004) (local version) taken over the summer.

2. An opinion poll (local version) by CBSNEWS.com (4 March 2004) reported these percentages of people who had a negative view of Bush: Britain, 66%; Canada, 66%; Spain, 75%; France, 80%; Germany, 80%, Mexico, over 50%, Italy, over 50%.

3. In June 2003 (local version), a poll showed that nearly 2/3 of the British had an unfavourable opinion of Bush. Asked who is more dangerous to world peace and stability, United States was rated higher than al-Qaeda by respondents in both Jordan (71%) and Indonesia (66%). The US was rated more dangerous than Iran by people in Jordan, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea, and Brazil and more dangerous than Syria by respondents all the countries polled, except for Australia, Israel, and the United States.

4. This page (local version) contains information on a number of polls like the ones mentioned above.

Do these polls matter? A leader leads with trust and respect. It is obvious that the Bush administration can no longer lead the world.

The isolationist, extremist attitude of the administration

Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's National Security Advisor, said in June 2004, "It is not only the Iraq policy of the Bush administration that has caused this [the opinion of the world to turn against the United States]. The Bush administration is the first administration since the onset of the Cold War 50 years ago not to place itself in the political mainstream, not to reflect moderation, not to practice at least de facto bipartisanship, but to embrace extremist principles. Inevitably, extremism produces recklessness." The administration has become increasingly isolated from the world, due to its attitudes and its refusal to engage with other countries.

Below is a list of examples. Taken one at a time, one might find valid reasons for it. Taken together, one gets the feeling that this administration feels that it can do everything by itself. It is not leading, it is bullying.

1. Started the War on Iraq without UN sanction for it.
2. Refused to join with other countries in the international war crimes court.
3. Refused to sign agreement on limiting the transfer of small weapons.
4. Walked out of a biological weapons convention agreed to by 143 nations.
5. Refused to sign treaty barring anti-personnel land mines.
6. Withdrew from anti-ballistic missile treaty.
7. Refused to sign the Kyoto agreement.

Links to a few articles

1. World opinion moves against Bush. Article (local version) by Simon Tisdall in the Guardian unlimited, 23 January 2003.

2. Bush withdraws from the world. Article (local version) by Ronald Asmus in The Age, 21 August 2004.

3. Foreign views of US darken after Sept 11. Article (local version) in the NY Times.

4. Bush turns Europe's consensus on its head. Article (no longer available; obtained from Wayback machine) in the Telegraph [UK], 20 September 2003.

5. Billionaire Soros blasts Bush, calls on President to honor world opinion. article (local version) in Post-gazette.com, 28 February 2003.

6. Mr. Bush is abusing both the UN and international law. Article (local version) by Jonathan Power in New War on Terror, 14 October 2001.

7. World opinion is more hostile to America than at any time in our history. Article (local version) in NPQ by Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1 June 2004.

8. History lesson: GOP must stop Bush. Article (local version) by Carl Bernstein in USA Today, 23 May 2004.

9. Bush demeanor fuels dissent. Article (local version) by Vijay Ramanavarapu in The Lantern, 10 March 2003.

10. Bush at the UN: Washington’s war ultimatum to the world. Article (local version) by Editorial board, World Socialist Web Site, 13 September 2002.

11. Bush's unilateralism aggravates world's problems. Article (local version) by Robert F. Drinan, National Catholic Reporter, 10 January 2003.

12. BBC News: World wants Kerry as President, 9/7/2004. Article. (Here's a local, text copy)